Blood contains biological components critical to supporting life, which makes blood transfusions a life saver. Unfortunately, blood may also contain pathogens which may be harmful or undesirable to a patient. As a result, it is desirable to sterilize blood to remove these pathogens. However, critical biological components of the blood and pathogens may be similar in some respects and may both be affected by sterilizing agents or techniques. Accordingly, the challenge is to reduce the pathogen titer or concentration to an acceptable safe level with minimal or no damage to the critical biological components. Today, methods of blood sterilization may involve gamma ray, chemical additives and slow cooking. However, such methods may have a high cost and/or marginal reductions in the level of pathogens.
Two blood components which may be targeted for sterilization are plasma and red blood cells (RBC). Transfusions of plasma may replenish anticoagulants, minerals, needed proteins and blood volume lose.
While progress has been made in transfusion safety from infection, donor deferrals for at-risk behaviors, the introduction of more-sensitive viral-screening assays and the recent introduction of nucleic-acid amplification technology have nearly eliminated transmission of HIV and hepatitis C virus by blood transfusion in certain areas of the world. Nevertheless, risks of other infectious agents for which such robust screening tools have not been developed include blood borne pathogens that can be viral, bacterial or parasitic. As a result, such pathogens may be present in the global blood supply.